Last March, when the Obama administration's outreach to Russia was still in its embryonic stages, America's chief diplomat made a major gaffe. Meeting in Geneva with her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented him with a symbolic red button, meant to signify the "reset" of bilateral relations publicly being advocated by the new president. But the button was mislabeled; in a glaring error of translation, it boasted the label peregruzka (overload), rather than perezagruzka (reload). Both Clinton and Lavrov were quick to laugh off the incident, but a serious message had inadvertently been sent: that the Obama administration was woefully out of its depth on foreign affairs.

That unfortunate episode sprang to mind last month, when Presidents Obama and Medvedev announced that work on a successor to the now-defunct 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) had been concluded. Details of the deal--predictably named "New START"--have now been made public, and they confirm that the latest exercise in U.S.-Russian arms control is flawed on at least three fronts.

Nato courting Moscow for Afghan assistance; Pakistan's constitution gets a makeover; More hardware to Sino-Indian border; New intel satellite for India; Iran and Pakistan reach deal on "Peace Pipeline"

China weighs in on Israeli-Palestinian peace; China looks to combustible ice to meet energy needs

LeT in America's sight's; Maoists respond to Operation Green Hunt; CIA and ISI draw closer; In arms sales, U.S. doesn't discriminate

U.S. ponders new base in Kyrgyzstan; In Iran's shadow, Arabs see Israel in different light, Nabucco, two steps forward; Yemen peace holds

QDR supports expanded role for India; China's influence grows in Nepal at Tibetans expense; India launches major offensive against Maosists; Embracing the drone in Afghanistan

YEMEN INCHES TOWARD PEACE; WITH AN EYE ON IRAN, ISRAELI UNVEILS NEW DRONE; U.S. REAFFIRMS CENTRAL ASIA TIES; AKP STEPS UP BATTLE AGAINST MILITARY IN TURKEY

India bolsters anti-China defense in Northeast; Vietnam parrying Chinese moves in South China Sea

Change is afoot in Pakistan. Evidence was on display in early February, with the capture of the Afghan Taliban’s number two commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in a joint operation by the CIA and Pakistani intelligence. The arrest of Baradar, who had been operating with relative impunity in Pakistan for years, was met with elation in Washington, where officials have been fruitlessly pressing the Pakistanis to crack down on the Afghan Taliban since 2001.

India, China struggle for influence in neighborhood; Russia-China trade drops precipitously in 2009